In 2000, the United States declared that measles had been eliminated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say this was thanks to a very high percentage of people receiving the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR).
But just 15 years later, the disease made a comeback – and is still kicking. The resurgence of measles outbreaks come as vaccine hesitancy and the anti-vax movement is seemingly on the rise – especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of May 1, the CDC has confirmed 935 measles cases across 29 states. Of those, 96% of cases are among unvaccinated people or those with unknown vaccination status. There have been three confirmed measles deaths this year.
There have been five confirmed measles cases in Colorado this year, in Pueblo, Denver, and Archuleta counties.
Between this uptick in cases, continuing vaccine skepticism, the Trump administration’s public health agenda which seems to be turning many of our systems on their heads, and more, it can be hard to decipher fact from fiction.
To help us sift through the mud and better understand vaccines and the immunization process KGNU’s Jackie Sedley was joined in-studio by some immunization experts.
First is Dr. Barry Karlin, he has over 60 years of experience in public health, working for years as a public health advisor with the United States Agency for International Development, or USA.I.D., and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Thailand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Also with us is Carol Helwig, the Communicable Disease Epidemiology Coordinator with Boulder County Public Health. She’s been in the public health field for nearly 30 years beginning in the early years of the HIV epidemic. She is an infectious disease epidemiologist and led the COVID epidemiology and surveillance response team for Boulder County during the pandemic. The team she leads at Boulder County Public Health is responsible for measles preparedness and response.
Listen:
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APublicAffair_2025-05-07 Gabrielle Mendoza
